State of Qatar’s mineral-rich economy currently derives a major chunk of its revenues from the Oil and Natural Gas Industry. It aggregates to almost over three-quarters of the total. Tourism is being banked upon as a prospective industry. More than 2 million tourists visited Qatar as per Visit Qatar the official website for tourism in Qatar. As per a report by Ezdan, this number should reach a 5.6 million mark by 2023. The Qatar National Vision 2030is a pathway towards an advanced society, capable of sustainable development withhigher standards of living for all its citizens, with major investment in economic and social infrastructure.All of these targets require a steady inflow of revenues.
Taxation being the vital assist to accomplish this steady inflow, made it to the high priority league in the Qatar Digital Government's 2020 strategy.With two distinguished tax regimes namely The state of Qatar tax regime operated under General Tax Authority (GTA) and the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) tax regime within the QFC Authority, Qatar boasts the 3rd position in the Ease of paying taxes in the global ranking, 2020 by the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).With virtually no tax on personal income apart from income from commercial activities and no tax for Qataris, the nation widely depends on corporate taxation along with indirect taxation for its tax revenues.
Concluding this idea, a transformative digital tax regime: Dhareeba was formed. It acts as a one-stop solution to all things related to tax. The GTA has devised the smart digital tax platform under the supervision of the Ministry of Finance (MoF) basing it on SAP -the latest technology pronto in the Business Management system.
The new online portal is equipped to tackle the problems faced on the previous platform (The GTA website). Undivided dedication to tax ensures 24/7 services, the user is free to file returns or make payments at his own accord. Immediate feedback mechanism reduces follow-up communications requirements along with eliminating errors. Tax agents are encouraged to maintain their taxpayer accounts enabling them to communicate over multiple channels.Dhareeba provides the luxury of discretion to its users. The automation enables calculations and processing of various types of tax on behalf of its users warranting an easier and less time-consuming management of Tax transactions
The dedicated portal to taxpayer caters to a much larger crowd. The representatives to taxpayers like Auditors, tax and legal consultants, Government, charitable as well as Private associations are also among the list of direct beneficiaries. GTA tax officers can boast a better grip over administrative controls. Apart from the revenue-generating entities, any economic activity that generates revenue inside the state of Qatar even if exempted along with special entities that need to claim refund must also get registered. Higher variants of users safeguard transparency and receptiveness.
The GTA had issued a publication on 30th June 2020 flagging the commencement of registration on the Dhareeba portal from 1st July 2020. To dodge penalties, the current or potential taxpayers must re-register or register on the revolutionary portal within 90 days i.e. by 30th September 2020.
When one wants to access the portal, a NAS Account is mandatory which can be created via the QID or passport formerly linked to the mobile number of the user. The user needs to obtain a TIN (Taxpayer Identification Number) for return filing or payments. This can be spawned on the submission of details related to tax in conjunction with general information.
The New Tax Management system marks an important milestone in Qatar Digital Government's 2020 strategy aiming to achieve complete automation of Tax payment and management process. This strategy envisions Qatar's future tax requirements to establish a bridge between its procedures and those in line with the latest international standards, systems, and expertise in this regard.
Disclaimer: Content posted is for informational & knowledge sharing purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice related to tax, finance or accounting. The view/ interpretation of the publisher is based on the available Law, guidelines, and information. Each reader should take due professional care before you act after reading the contents of that article/ post. No warranty whatsoever is made that any of the articles are accurate and is not intended to provide and should not be relied on for tax or accounting advice.
You can access Law including Guidelines, Cabinet & FTA Decisions, Public Clarifications, Forms, Business Bulletins for all taxes (Vat, Excise, Customs, Corporate Tax, Transfer Pricing) for all GCC Countries in the Law Section of GCC FinTax.
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